10 Reasons Not to Own a Netbook and 8 Reasons to Own One.

 

Netbooks are the fastest growing category of laptop sales with some 10 million of them shipped last year and sales increasing in 2009. Yes, they sell well but do they deliver?

The answer of course is dependant on the question. And the question is; "For what reason are you buying a Netbook?. In essence if your buying a netbook to get a cheap laptop you may well be disapponted, if your buying a netbook becuase you want something better than a smartphone and lighter and cheaper than a laptop, you'll probaly be very happy. Very few people criticise a sports car for having "just 2 doors" and "being so low to the ground" because if you don't want those things you'd probably by a Commodore.

10 Reasons Not to buy a Netbook.

1. Low but Increasing Price

It's undeniable that netbooks are cheaper than laptops and cheaper than some smartphones. But for the better netbooks price is overlapping with good spec'd Core 2 Duo laptops.  Are you really getting value for money; cheap screen, Intel Atom cpu, limited performance, cheap build quality, and in Asus's case no worldwide warranty. Also with Acer they use a centralised "back to base" warranty repair structure that can be s.l.o.w. As screen sizes increase the netbook value decreases.

2. Application Performance

Netbooks are not primarily designed to run applications. They are positioned as web/email tools with multimedia built-in.  The truth is, however, that netbook buyers see and want netbooks to be notebooks.  That's one of the reasons Microsoft's share of netbook operating systems rose from zero to 96% so fast. Linux on the EEE PC would have coped with "set expectations" but people wanted their netbooks to behave like a computer and, for better or worse, for most people that means behaving like Windows.

3. Screen Size and Quality

Small screens can be tolerated but they never become the preferred option. Even in Netbook "primary function" territory web browsing requires lots of vertical scrolling and many websites are now optimised for 1024x768.. In the area of "applications" such as Office 2007 the graphical and chunky rendering of menus and tool bars can so significantly reduce screen real estate that working in the program can become bothersome and annoying. And, netbooks are built to a price, therefore the screens are cheaper low resolution offerings. The 7" original EEE PC screen was fairly lame.

4. Keyboard

Whilst the keyboard is better than a smartphone or a PDA, the keyboards in many netbooks can be hard to adjust to and irritating. That's because keys aren't where you expect them to be. Over time, you may be able to adjust to your netbook's quirky keyboard layout. Not so with its down-sized keyboard. If you intend to do any significant amount of typing on the device, its keyboard will cramp your style as well as your hands.

5. Build Quality

Mobility is a big selling point of netbooks. Problem is, in order to keep costs down, netbooks tend to be cheaply constructed. That means they're not built to take the shocks and knocks endemic to mobility/travel. The solid state hard drives do "take a knock", but don't drop a netbook unless you want to sweep up the peices.

6. Seductive Cuteness

Because of their compact size, netbooks have a high cute factor. They seem like very very economical versions of Sony's $4000 10.6" laptops at 15% of the price. But looks can deceive so potential  buyers need to see netbooks for what they are not what you'd like them to be. Cuteness fades fast when a computer doesn't do what you want it to do when you want to do it.

7. Longevity

Netbooks are a new laptop category. Will they last? Will they run Windows 7? Can you get spare parts for them into the future? Is the low price tag trying to get you the think of them as a "throw away item" such as mobile phones. Who repairs a broken mobile phone? Is $700 for 2 year life a good deal compared to a Toshiba or Dell laptop at $1200 that lasts 5 years?

8. OS Support / No Apple

Microsoft has garnered the lion's share of the netbook operating system market by selling its "discontinued" Windows XP Home to manufacturers for very low unit costs. Vista has been bypassed in the netbook category. But with the release in  few months of Windows 7 Microsoft has laid down the hardware "rules" for the netbook version of Windows 7, said by some to be limited to 3 concurrent apps, compared to laptop Windows 7. With NVidia and AMD about to release competitors to the Intel Atom cpu, who knows how all this will play out? And then, netbooks operating under Google's Android operating system will begin appearing next year. With all this uncertainty surrounding the operating systems for these mini-notebooks, it might be best to see how things shake out before choosing a netbook over a notebook if thats your one and only PC.

Apple's chief operating officer Tim Cook, who's leading the company in Steve Jobs' absence, took some sharp jabs at netbooks in May 2009. His words might put a damper on rumors that Apple is developing a netbook. "For us, it's about doing great products," Cook said  "When I look at netbooks, I see cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens. It's just not a good consumer experience and not something we would put the Mac brand on. It's a segment we would not choose to play in."

9. Cloudland or What

Are local applications about to disappear? - well they've been saying that for 5+ years?  And whats wrong with local applications?  Do I have a problem here that needs solving? If you think a netbook will free you from the tyranny of operating system-based programs, you may be surprised. Working in "the cloud" on the internet sounds great, but the internet lacks speed at times, and any traveller is used to expensive ad-hoc internet use, often slow, and unsuited to the domain of a local application such as Microsoft Office or MYOB or Quickbooks. The internet link connections can go down. And while local programs crash, you can always reboot them. Loose your internet connection and your completely stuffed.

10. No CDRW or DVDRW

Netbooks don't have built-in optical drives and therefore to install apps and watch movies on DVD, etc, you'll need extra kit. Not a huge drama unless you forget to bring it to work or on your overseas trip with you.

 

8 Reasons to buy a Netbook.

1. Weight

When travelling you notice every extra kg. The difference between a 2.5~3kg laptop and a netbook under 1Kg can be heavenly. And many travellers want to perhaps watch a movie inflight, collect and send email, upload a few happy snaps to Facebook and recreationally surf the net. Hardly a 3kg payload.

2. Very long battery life

On airlines there is nothing worse than starting something only to find that your battery is running flat. With netbooks when travelling you can get up to 9 hours battery life making the inflight movie a breeze and having battery life in reserve for collecting and sending  email and recreationally surfing  the net or using facebook.

3. Size

The size allows a netbook to fit inside a ladies handbag or a mans'  breifcase. They encourage you to "bring them along" because of their size and weight. Sure the screen keyboard and capacity is smaller but not compared to a smartphone a PDA or "nothing" - a laptop left at home because its too bulky to bring along.

4. Replaceability

Netbooks are a new laptop category in some ways like a mobile phone - they a lower cost so they can be more easily replaced or upgraded as necessary. If you have a unit that does not run Windows 7 or for which you cannot get an economical repair, you can "throw them away" , just like a mobile phones, without guilt or financial meltdown.

5. Lowest priced computer.

Whilst it is widely acknokledged that netbooks are cheaper than laptops, don't forget that netbooks are also cheaper than desktops. In fact there is no cheaper way to get a new computer with Windows XP (Home) than a netbook  Remember, for example, that Lenovo was awarded the NSW DET netbook contract in April, 2009 wherein Lenovo and Microsoft will provide 220,000 netbooks to NSW school students under the Department of Education and Training's $110 million mini-laptop tender. These 220,000 netbooks with put Windows XP in front of students in years 9-12 for a $500 price tag.

6. Device support

Netbooks support all common devices such as USB printers, scanners, external storage devices, memory sticks, etc. You don't have compatabiolity issues trying to connect this with that. You have XP on the desktop and lots of standard ports.

7. Compatability with Windows Applications, devices & peripherals.

Netbooks run Windows XP as their native OS. This ensures application and device driver compatability. It also gives support for laptop hardware such as "DDRII" ram and 2.5" hard  drives. This provides for ease of upgrade of both hardware and software should the need arise..

8. Trendy

Its cool to have the latest electronic gadget to impress others. Owning a netbook is trendy and says to others; I am up with the latest. You can leave you full sized laptop at home and move and shake with your easy to carry, easy to use netbook.